Automatic grill block from the factory?
Nevermind the ugly 635d. What I'm interested in is at 1:10. Is that what I think it is?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oeoM0fa_g4 |
yup apperently that's what they are
bmw seems to have some other interesting things to enhance FE source Quote:
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wait a minute!
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As for the grille block wonder how strong some kind of those fixed stiff blinds that you can mount inside a window are. Cut one up to size, mount a servo on the moving part and got a nice "automatic" grille block |
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If it were up to me to design it, I would cover the grille with two separate sets of slats. The first set would occupy the center 1/3 or so of the grille, triggered to flip open about 10?F below the stock cooling fan temperature (so long as that's above the target temp of the engine thermostat). The second set would cover the remainder of the grille, and would flip open when the cooling fans switch on. You know... It just occured to me that a variable opening system, as opposed to this digital either open or closed setup, might be ideal. Unfortunately, it would be significantly more complex to set up with motors. You would need a true servo and a controller instead of a simple motor with limit switches. But wait... The engine thermostat opens and closes without any of that crap. It relies on the thermal expansion of a chunk of wax. What this setup needs is some kind of (preferably low-tech) temperature dependant linear actuator. A plumbed sheath that engine coolant could be run through would be nice, but you could probably get away with tightly wrapping copper or aluminum tubing around the actuator. I know they make actuators to open greenhouse vents at around 100?F... This would simply call for one with a higher opening temperature. Such a variable opening setup would probably be a little slow to react, so it would be attached to the smaller, center set of slats in my initial design. |
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An ideal system would be no thermostat on the engine and a variable air flap mechanism in the grill to regulate engine temp. BMW does one better on all its new cars by using an electric water pump with variable flow in conjunction with the variable grill. Its the typical BMW solution: Over engineered and stupid to repair.
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I do think that there is some FE advantage to an electric water pump. But, yeah, expensive to replace when it eventually needs it.
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What you are proposing below was used on heavy duty diesel trucks about 30 years ago. They have used shutters for many years. It was called a vernatherm and was just like a thermostat actuator except it pushed on an arm to open the shutters. It was mounted in the bottom radiator tank. Kenworth figured the water gained 14 degrees going through the engine. You would generally set these up so then engine theromostat was fully open before the shutters began to open. These were nice because they only opened as much as needed.
Other shutters were air operated and one could use a valve that was mounted either in the thermostat housing or lower radiator hose. The valve was actuated by a pellet just like a thermostat has. The location chosen drove the temperature selection. I preferred the lower radiator hose because the response seemed more appropriate to me. I like seeing stuff like this finally coming. It seems like it should have come out 20 years ago though. Here is a link: https://www.rostravernatherm.com/ Quote:
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